SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT

REPORT
ON

(SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK )

AT
HDFC BANK
(VARANASI)

Summer Training Project Report

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of BBA

Degree
By Sharda University

Student Name:Waseem Ansar

Roll No:130241310
BBA(2013-2016)
Under the guidence of
Prof.
Nauma Rafiq
SBS, Sharda University

School of Business Studies

Sharda University

Plot no: 32,34, Knowledge Park 3

Greater Noida - 201306
1

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the Project report titled SERVICE
QUALITY OF HDFC BANK is my original work and has not
been published or submitted for any degree, diploma or other
similar titles elsewhere. This has been undertaken for the
purpose of partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the award
of BBA degree

Date:

Waseem Ansari
BBA
Waseemansari721@gmail.com

PREFACE
2

This project report attempts to bring under one cover the

entire hard work and dedication put in by me in the
completion of the project work on Service Quality of
HDFC bank.
I have expressed my experiences in my own simple way. I
hope who goes through it will find it interesting and worth
reading. All constructive feedback is cordially invited.

.
Waseem Ansari
BBA
Waseemansari721@gmail.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
3

It is really a matter of pleasure for me to get an opportunity to

thank all the persons who contributed directly or indirectly for
the successful completion of the project report, Service Quality
of HDFC bank.
I wish to express my gratitude to the branch manager Mr.
ROHIT KHANNA of HDFC BANK, VARANASI for giving
me an opportunity to be a part of their esteem organization and
enhance my knowledge by granting permission to do a summer
training Project. They provided me with their assistance and
support whenever needed, which has been instrumental in
completion of this project. I am thankful to them, for their
support and encouragement throughout the tenure of the project.
Also I am thankful to my faculty guide MS. NAUMA RAFIQ
from the Department of SBS, SHARDA UNIVERSITY for
being a source of support during this training period. Last but
not the least I am grateful to all the staff members of HDFC
Bank for their kind cooperation and help during the course of
my project.
Waseem Ansari
BBA
Waseemansari721@gmail.com

INDEX
CONTENTS

PAGE NO.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. COMPANY PROFILE
3. SERVICE QUALITY IN BANKS
4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
6. DATA ANALYSIS
7. FINDINGS OF THE REPORT
8. CONCLUSION
9. RECOMMENDATIONS
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
11. ANNEXURE: QUESTIONNAIRE

INTRODUCTION OF BANKING
5

Service with a smile:

Todays finicky banking customers will settle for nothing less. The customer has
come to realize somewhat belatedly that he is the king. The customers choice of
one entity over another as his principal bank is determined by considerations of
service quality rather than any other factor. He wants competitive loan rates but at
the same time also wants his loan or credit card application processed in double
quick time. He insists that he be promptly informed of changes in deposit rates and
service charges and he bristles with customary rage if his bank is slow to redress
any grievance he may have. He cherishes the convenience of impersonal net
banking but during his occasional visits to the branch he also wants the comfort of
personalized human interactions and facilities that make his banking experience
pleasurable. In short he wants financial house that will more than just clear his
cheque and updates his passbook: he wants a bank that cares and provides great
services.
So does HDFC bank meet these heightened expectations? What are the customers
perceptions of service quality of the banks? Which dimension of service quality of
HDFC bank is performing well? To find out answers to these questions I undertook
a survey of 2 branches of HDFC bank.
A lot of surveys have been done in the past to understand the aspect of customer
satisfaction and to find out the customer friendly banks. My research is conducted
to find out SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK.

COMPANY
PROFILE

The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the
first to receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to
set up a bank in the private sector, as part of the RBI's liberalisation of the Indian
Banking Industry in 1994. The bank was incorporated in August 1994 in the name
of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office in Mumbai, India. HDFC Bank
commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995.
HDFC Bank comprises of a dynamic and enthusiastic team determined to
accomplish the vision of becoming a World-class Indian bank. HDFC banks
business philosophy is based on our four core values - Customer Focus,
Operational Excellence, Product Leadership and People. They believe that the
ultimate identity and success of their bank will reside in the exceptional quality of
people and their extraordinary efforts. They are committed to hiring, developing,
motivating and retaining the best people in the industry.

BUSINESS FOCUS
HDFC Bank's mission is to be a World-Class Indian Bank. The objective is to build
sound customer franchises across distinct businesses so as to be the preferred
provider of banking services for target retail and wholesale customer segments, and
to achieve healthy growth in profitability, consistent with the bank's risk appetite.
The bank is committed to maintain the highest level of ethical standards,
professional integrity, corporate governance and regulatory compliance. HDFC
Bank's business philosophy is based on four core values - Operational Excellence,
Customer Focus, Product Leadership and People.

MISSION STATEMENT OF HDFC BANK

* World Class Indian Bank.
* Benchmarking against international standards.
* To build sound customer franchises across distinct businesses
* Best practices in terms of product offerings, technology, service
levels, risk management and
audit & compliance

VISION STATEMENT OF HDFC BANK

The HDFC Bank is committed to maintain the highest level of ethical standards,
professional integrity and regulatory compliance. HDFC Banks business
philosophy is based on four core values such as:1. Operational excellence.
2. Customer Focus.
3.Product leadership.
9

4. People.

The objective of the HDFC Bank is to provide its target market customers a full
range of financial products and banking services, giving the customer a one-step
window for all his/her requirements. The HDFC Bank plus and the investment
advisory services programs have been designed keeping in mind needs of
customers who seeks distinct financial solutions, information and advice on
various investment avenues.
BUSINESS STRATEGY

Increasing market share in Indias expanding banking

Delivering high quality customer service

Maintaining current high standards for asset quality through

disciplined credit risk management

Develop innovative products and services that attract targeted

customers and address inefficiencies in the Indian financial
sector.

10

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
HDFC Bank is headquartered in Mumbai. The Bank at present has an enviable
network of over 1229 branches spread over 444 cities across India. All branches
are linked on an online real-time basis. Customers in over 120 locations are also
serviced through Telephone Banking. The Bank's expansion plans take into
account the need to have a presence in all major industrial and commercial centers
where its corporate customers are located as well as the need to build a strong retail
customer base for both deposits and loan products. Being a clearing/settlement
bank to various leading stock exchanges, the Bank has branches in the centers
where the NSE/BSE has a strong and active member base.
The Bank also has a network of about over 2526 networked ATMs across these
cities. Moreover, HDFC Bank's ATM network can be accessed by all domestic and
international Visa/MasterCard, Visa Electron/Maestro, Plus/Cirrus and American
Express Credit/Charge cardholders.
PROMOTER
HDFC is India's premier housing finance company and enjoys an impeccable track
record in India as well as in international markets. Since its inception in 1977, the
Corporation has maintained a consistent and healthy growth in its operations to
remain a market leader in mortgages. Its outstanding loan portfolio covers well
over a million dwelling units. HDFC has developed significant expertise in retail
mortgage loans to different market segments and also has a large corporate client
base for its housing related credit facilities. With its experience in the financial
markets, a strong market reputation, large shareholder base and unique consumer
franchise, HDFC was ideally positioned to promote a bank in the Indian
environment.

11

MANAGEMENT
Mr. C.M. Vasudev has been appointed as the Chairman of the Bank with effect
from 6th July 2010 subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the
shareholders. Mr. Vasudev has been a Director of the Bank since October 2006. A
retired IAS officer, Mr. Vasudev has had an illustrious career in the civil services
and has held several key positions in India and overseas, including Finance
Secretary, Government of India, Executive Director, World Bank and Government
nominee on the Boards of many companies in the financial sector.
The Managing Director, Mr. Aditya Puri, has been a professional banker for over
25 years, and before joining HDFC Bank in 1994 was heading Citibank's
operations in Malaysia.
The Bank's Board of Directors is composed of eminent individuals with a wealth
of experience in public policy, administration, industry and commercial banking.
Senior executives representing HDFC are also on the Board.
Senior banking professionals with substantial experience in India and abroad head
various businesses and functions and report to the Managing Director. Given the
professional expertise of the management team and the overall focus on recruiting
and retaining the best talent in the industry, the bank believes that its people are a
significant competitive strength.

TECHNOLOGY
HDFC Bank operates in a highly automated environment in terms of information
technology and communication systems. All the bank's branches have online
connectivity, which enables the bank to offer speedy funds transfer facilities to its
customers. Multi-branch access is also provided to retail customers through the
branch network and Automated Teller(ATMs).
The Bank has made substantial efforts and investments in acquiring the best
technology available internationally, to build the infrastructure for a world class
bank. The Bank's business is supported by scalable and robust systems which
ensure that our clients always get the finest services we offer.
The Bank has prioritised its engagement in technology and the internet as one of its
key goals and has already made significant progress in web-enabling its core
businesses. In each of its businesses, the Bank has succeeded in leveraging its
market position, expertise and technology to create a competitive advantage and
build market share.

12

QUALITY POLICY
SECURITY: The bank provides long term financial security to
bank does this by offering life insurance and pension products.

their policy. The

TRUST: The bank appreciates the trust placed by their policy holders in the bank.
Hence, it will aim to manage their investments very carefully and live up to this
trust.
INNOVATION: Recognizing the different needs of our customers, the bank offers
a range of innovative products to meet these needs.
INTEGRITY
CUSTOMER CENTRIC
PEOPLE CARE ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE
TEAM WORK
JOY AND SIMPLICITY

13

BUSINESS
HDFC Bank offers a wide range of commercial and transactional banking services
and treasury products to wholesale and retail customers. The bank has three key
business segments.
Wholesale Banking Services The Bank's target market ranges from large, bluechip manufacturing companies in the Indian corporate to small & mid-sized
corporates and agri-based businesses. For these customers, the Bank provides a
wide range of commercial and transactional banking services, including working
capital finance, trade services, transactional services, cash management, etc. The
bank is also a leading provider of structured solutions, which combine cash
management services with vendor and distributor finance for facilitating superior
supply chain management for its corporate customers. Based on its superior
product delivery / service levels and strong customer orientation, the Bank has
made significant inroads into the banking consortia of a number of leading Indian
corporates including multinationals, companies from the domestic business houses
and prime public sector companies. It is recognised as a leading provider of cash
management and transactional banking solutions to corporate customers, mutual
funds, stock exchange members and banks.

Retail Banking Services

The objective of the Retail Bank is to provide its target market customers a full
range of financial products and banking services, giving the customer a one-stop
window for all his/her banking requirements. The products are backed by worldclass service and delivered to customers through the growing branch network, as
well as through alternative delivery channels like ATMs, Phone Banking, Net
Banking and Mobile Banking.
The HDFC Bank Preferred program for high net worth individuals, the HDFC
Bank Plus and the Investment Advisory Services programs have been designed
keeping in mind needs of customers who seek distinct financial solutions,
information and advice on various investment avenues. The Bank also has a wide
array of retail loan products including Auto Loans, Loans against marketable
securities, Personal Loans and Loans for Two-wheelers.
14

It is also a leading provider of Depository Participant (DP) services for retail

customers, providing customers the facility to hold their investments in electronic
form. HDFC Bank was the first bank in India to launch an International Debit Card
in association with VISA (VISA Electron) and issues the Mastercard Maestro debit
card as well. The Bank launched its credit card business in late 2001. By March
2010, the bank had a total card base (debit and credit cards) of over 14 million. The
Bank is also one of the leading players in the merchant acquiring business with
over 90,000 Point-of-sale (POS) terminals for debit / credit cards acceptance at
merchant establishments. The Bank is well positioned as a leader in various net
based B2C opportunities including a wide range of internet banking services for
Fixed Deposits, Loans, Bill Payments, etc.

Treasury
Within this business, the bank has three main product areas - Foreign Exchange
and Derivatives, Local Currency Money Market & Debt Securities, and Equities.
With the liberalisation of the financial markets in India, corporates need more
sophisticated risk management information, advice and product structures. These
and fine pricing on various treasury products are provided through the bank's
Treasury team. To comply with statutory reserve requirements, the bank is required
to hold 25% of its deposits in government securities. The Treasury business is
responsible for managing the returns and market risk on this investment portfolio.

15

SERVICE QUALITY
IN
BANKS

16

In the days of intense competition, the banks are no different from any other
consumer marketing company. It has become essential for the service firms in
general and banks in particular to identify what the customer's requirements are
and how those customer requirements can be met effectively. In the days where
product and price differences are blurred, superior service by the service provider
is the only differentiator left before the banks to attract, retain and partner with the
customers. Superior service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its
competition, gain a sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency .The
benefits of service quality include increased customer satisfaction, improved
customer retention, positive word of mouth, reduced staff turnover, decreased
operating costs, enlarged market share, increased profitability, and improved
financial performance. The construct of service quality has therefore been a subject
of great interest to service marketing researchers.
Service quality has been defined by various experts in various ways as: 'Service
Quality is the difference between customers' expectations for service performance
prior to the service encounter and their perceptions of the service received.'
According to Gefan Service quality is the subjective comparison that customers
make between the qualities of service that they want to receive and what they
actually get.' Parasuraman says, 'Service quality is determined by the differences
between customer's expectations of services provider's performance and their
evaluation of the services they received.
Service quality is 'the delivery of excellent or superior service relative to customer
expectations. Service quality is recognized as a multidimensional construct. While
the number of dimensions often varies from researcher to researcher, there is some
consensus that service quality consists of three primary aspects: outcome quality,
interaction quality, and physical service environment quality. Outcome quality
refers to the customer's assessment of the core service which is the prime
motivating factor for obtaining the services (e.g. money received from ATM).
Interaction quality refers to the customer's assessment of the service delivery
process, which is typically rendered via a physical interface between the service
provider, in person, or via technical equipment, and the customer. It includes, for
instance, the consumer's evaluation of the attitude of the service providing staff.
The physical service environment quality dimension refers to the consumer's
evaluation of any tangible aspect associated with the facilities or equipment that
the service is provided in/ with. It includes, for example, the physical conditions of
an ATM machine.
17

The most popular dimensions of service quality--features five dimensions:

tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance. The tangibles
dimension corresponds to the aforementioned physical environment aspect, the
reliability dimension corresponds to the service outcome aspect, and the remaining
three represent aspects of interaction quality. Both the costs and the revenue of
firms are affected by repeat purchases, positive word-of-mouth recommendation,
and customer feedback. Moreover, there is strong evidence that service quality has
either a direct influence on the behavioral intentions of customers and/or an
indirect influence on such intentions, mediated through customer satisfaction.
RATER is an instrument that might be used to define and measure banking service
quality and to create useful quality-assessment tools.
The RATER may finally provide the following benefits to the HDFC bank:
1. It is the first approach to add and mix the customers religious beliefs and
cultural values with other quality dimensions.
2. It provides for multi-faced analysis of customer satisfaction.
3. It links quality with customers satisfaction and service encounter.
4. It provides information at several levels, already organized into meaningful
groupings.
5. It is a proven approach, which results in usable answers to meet customers
needs.
6. It is empirically grounded, systematic and well documented.
Banks managers can use the RATER model and its dimensions first to identify the
following issues:

18

RE
P
S
NO
S
N
E IV E
NG
A
T
IB IL
T
MP
E
HY
T
A

L IA
E
R
B IL
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SR
A
UN
A
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E

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE
QUALITY

19

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY

TANGIBILITY: This dimension deal with modern looking equipments and visual
appealing part of banks.
RELIABILITY: This dimension has a direct positive effect on perceived service
quality and customer satisfaction in banking institutions. Banks must provide error
free service and secure online transactions to make customers feel comfortable.
RESPONSIVENESS: Customers expect that the banks must respond their inquiry
promptly. Responsiveness describes how often a bank voluntarily provides services
that are important to its customers. Researchers examining the responsiveness of
banking services have highlighted the importance of perceived service quality and
customer satisfaction.
ASSURANCE: Customer expects that the bank must be secured and the behavior
of the employees must be encouraging.
EMPATHY: individual attention, customized service and convenient banking
hours are very much important in todays service.
In order to achieve better understanding of service quality in banking sector, the
proposed five service quality dimensions are conceptualized to illustrate the overall
service quality of the banking in relation to customers and providers perspective.
Banking was in the sector featuring medium goods and higher customer producer
interactions, since in banking, consumers and service providers interact personally
and the use of goods is at a medium level. Hence, in banking, where there are high
customer-producer interactions, the quality of service is determined to a large
extent by the skills and attitudes of people producing the service.

20

In the case of services, because customers are often either direct observers of the
production process or active participants, how the process is performed also has a
strong influence on the overall impression of the quality of service. A wellperformed service encounter may even overcome the negative impression caused
by poor technical quality as well as generate positive word-of-mouth, particularly
if customers can see that employees have worked very hard to satisfy them in the
face of problems outside their control. Employees are part of the process, which
connects with the customer at the point of sale, and hence employees remain the
key to success at these service encounters or moments of truth. It is these
encounters with customers during a service that are the most important
determinants of overall customer satisfaction, and a customers experience with
the service will be defined by the brief experience with the firms personnel and
the firms systems. The rudeness of the banks customer service representative, the
abruptness of the employee at the teller counter, or the lack of interest of the person
at the check deposit counter can alter ones overall attitude towards the service,
perhaps even reversing the impression caused by high technical quality.

Another important service quality factor, competence, is defined by whether the

bank performs the service right the first time, whether the employees of the bank
tell customers exactly when services will be performed, whether the bank lives up
to its promises, whether customers feel safe in their transactions with the bank and
whether the employees show a sincere interest in solving the customers problems.
In short, this dimension is related to the banks ability to perform the promised
service accurately and dependably. Performing the service dependably and
accurately is the heart of service marketing excellence. When a company performs
a service carelessly, when it makes avoidable mistakes, and when it fails to deliver
on promises made to attract customers, it shakes customers confidence in its
capabilities and undermines its chances of earning a reputation for service
excellence.
It is very important to do the service right the first time. In case a service problem
does crop up, by resolving the problem to the customers satisfaction, the company
can significantly improve customer retention. However, companies fare best when
they prevent service problems altogether and fare worst when service problems
occur and the company either ignores them or does not resolve them to the
customers satisfaction.

21

Performing the service accurately is perhaps the most important factor in service
quality excellence. The cost of performing the service inaccurately includes not
only the cost of redoing the service but also the cost associated with negative
word-of-mouth generated by displeased customers. In case of services, the factory
is the field. Again, services are intangible and hence the criteria for flawless
services are more subjective than the criteria for defect-free tangible goods. Hence
for most services, customers perceptions of whether the service has been
performed correctly, and not provider-established criteria, are the major
determinants of reliability.
The service quality factor tangible is defined by whether the physical facilities and
materials associated with the service are visually appealing at the bank. These are
all factors that customers notice before or upon entering the bank. Such visual
factors help consumers form their initial impressions. A crucial challenge in service
marketing is that customers cannot see a service but can see the various tangibles
associated with it - all these tangibles, the service facilities, equipment and
communication materials are clues about the intangible service. If unmanaged,
these clues can send to the customers wrong messages about the service and
render ineffective the marketing strategy of the company. On the other hand,
improving quality through tangibles means attention to the smallest details that
competitors might consider trivial. Yet, these visible details can add up for
customers and signal a message of caring and competence.
Customers may reveal new aspects of service quality in banking that are important
to them, and these would have to be incorporated in the scale so as to further
explore the concept of service quality in the banking arena.

22

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
AND
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study is as follows:
23

To examine the essential dimensions of service quality i.e. RATER- Reliability,

assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness of HDFC bank and its effect on
customers satisfaction.

To find out the level of perception of the customers from the service quality
offered by the banks.

To know which service quality dimension of the bank is performing well.

To identify which dimension of service quality needs improvement so that the

quality of service of HDFC banks is enhanced.

IMPORTANCE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

24

The study would try to throw some insights into the existing services
provided by the banks, perceptions and the actual service quality of the
bank. The results of the study would be able to recognize the lacunae in
the system and thus provide key areas where improvement is required
for better performance and success ratio. In the days of intense
competition, superior service is the only differentiator left before the
banks to attract, retain and partner with the customers. Superior service
quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition, gain a
sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency

SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of this research is to identify the service quality of HDFC bank. This
research is based on primary data and secondary data. This study only focuses on
the dimensions of service quality i.e. RATER. It aims to understand the skill of the
company in the area of service quality that are performing well and shows those
areas which require improvement. The study was done taking two branches of
HDFC bank into consideration. The survey was restricted to the bank customers in
Delhi only.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
DATA SOURCE
25

Primary Data:
The primary data was collected by means of a survey. Questionnaires were
prepared and customers of the banks at two branches were approached to fill up the
questionnaires. The questionnaire contains 20 questions which reflect on the type
and quality of services provided by the banks to the customers. The response of the
customer and the is recorded on a grade scale of strongly disagree, disagree,
uncertain, agree and strongly agree for each question. The filled up information
was later analyzed to obtain the required interpretation and the findings.

Secondary Data:
In order to have a proper understanding of the service quality of bank a depth study
was done from the various sources such as books, a lot of data is also collected
from the official websites of the banks and the articles from various search engines
like Google, yahoo search and answers.com.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design is exploratory till identification of service quality parameters.
Later it becomes descriptive when it comes to evaluating customer perception of
service quality of the banks.
Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and
characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive
research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how.
Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research
cannot describe what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used
to create a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words,
descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity.
The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations.
Often the best approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a
survey investigation. Qualitative research often has the aim of description and

26

researchers may follow-up with examinations of why the observations exist and
what the implications of the findings are

RESEARCH SAMPLE
SAMPLING PLAN:
Since it is not possible to study whole universe, it becomes necessary to take
sample from the universe to know about its characteristics.
Sampling Units: Customers of HDFC bank
Sample Technique: Random Sampling.
Research Instrument: Structured Questionnaire.
Contact Method: Personal Interview.

SAMPLE SIZE:

27

The work is a case of HDFC Bank, one of the largest bank of Indian banking
industry together representing over 25 per cent of the market share of Indian
banking space. The survey was conducted in the city of Delhi with two branches of
HDFC Bank, with 50 customers as respondent.

DATA COLLECTION TOOL

1.

Strongly disagree

2.

Disagree

3.

Neither agree nor disagree

4.

Agree

5.

Strongly agree

Likert scaling is a bipolar scaling method, measuring either positive or negative

response to a statement. The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part
consists of three questions concerning the demographic information of the
respondent such as the name, age, educational qualifications and income. The
second part consisting of 18 questions exploring the respondents perception about
the service quality of HDFC. For evaluation of service quality of HDFC bank
service quality dimension of reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and
responsiveness is used in order to evaluate the actual service quality of HDFC
bank.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STRATEGY

28

 The study is only for the HDFC Bank confined to a particular location and a
very small sample of respondents. Hence the findings cannot be treated as
representative of the entire banking industry.

The study can also not be generalized for public and private sector banks of
the country.

Respondents may give biased answers for the required data. Some of the
respondents did not like to respond.

Respondents tried to escape some statements by simply answering neither

agree nor disagree to most of the statements. This was one of the most
important limitation faced, as it was difficult to analyse and come at a right
conclusion.
In our study we have included 50 customers of bank because of time limit.

29

DATA
ANALYSIS

Ques. Age
30

AGE CATEGORY

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

18-23 Years

10

20

20

24-29 Years

17

34

54

30-35 Years

15

30

84

16

100

50

100

35 Years and above

TOTAL

Sales

18-23 Year
24-29 Year
30-35 Year
35 and above

31

INTERPRETATION
From the table and graph above it can be seen that
20% respondents age are 18 to 23 years.
34% respondents age are 24 to 29 years.
30% respondents age are 30 to 35 years..
16% respondents age are 35 to above years.

Ques. Educational qualifications

CATEGORY

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

UNDER
GRADUATE

13

26

26

GRADUATE

20

40

66

17

34

100

50

100

POST GRADUATE
TOTAL

32

Sales

UNDERGARDUATE
GRADUATE
POST GRADUATE

INTERPRETATION
From the table above it can be seen that.
26% respondents are Under graduate.
40% respondents are Graduate.
34% respondents are Post graduate.

33

TANGIBILITY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY

(Questions1 to 4):
Physical facilities, equipments and appearance of personnel
Ques.1 HDFC bank has modern looking equipment.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

10

10

DISAGREE

25

50

60

UNCERTAIN

16

32

92

AGREE

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE

34

INTERPRETATION
HDFC bank has modern-looking and hi-tech equipments. Here analysis show that
most of the respondents disagreed with this statement. Among the total respondents
50% disagreed, 32% were neutral and 8% agreed. After analysis I found that
majority of the respondents think that HDFC Bank do not have modern looking
equipments or no hi-tech equipments.

Ques.2 The bank's physical features are visually appealing.

SCALE

DISAGREE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

UNCERTAIN

29

58

66

AGREE

17

34

100

TOTAL

50

100

35

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE

INTERPRETATION
HDFC banks physical facilities are visually appealing. From this statement I
found that 17 persons agreed. 29 persons were uncertain and 4 persons disagreed.
This means 58% people
were uncertain about this statement. Out of the total respondents only 4%
disagreed and no one strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement. 17% people
agreed that HDFC banks physical facilities are visually appealing.

36

Ques.3 The bank's reception desk employees are neat appearing.

SCALE

DISAGREE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

10

10

UNCERTAIN

21

42

52

AGREE

18

36

88

12

100

50

100

STRONGLY AGREE
TOTAL

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGY AGREE

37

INTERPRETATION
HDFC banks employees appear neat. Here analysis shows that majority were
neutral. Among the total respondent 21 respondents were neutral, 18 people agreed
and 6 respondents strongly agreed. The rest disagreed. From analysis I found that
some respondents agreed with this statement but most of the respondents think the
employees of the HDFC bank appear neat.

Ques.4 Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or

statements) are visually appealing at the bank.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

DISAGREE

14

14

UNCERTAIN

22

44

58

18

36

94

100

50

100

AGREE
STRONGLY
AGREE
TOTAL

PERCENTAGE

38

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY
AGREE

INTERPRETATION
Materials associated with the service are visually appealing at HDFC bank. Here
36% respondents agreed with this statement and 6% strongly agreed with this
statement. 44% were neutral that is most and 14% disagreed. There was no
respondent who strongly disagreed. Hence, in general it can be concluded that
materials associated with the services such as pamphlets or statements are visually
appealing.

39

RELIABILITY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Questions 5 to 8):

Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

Ques.5 When the bank promises to do something by a certain time, it
does so.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

DISAGREE

26

52

56

10

66

14

28

94

100

50

100

UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE
TOTAL

40

Sales

STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

INTERPRETATION
My sample size was 50. Here analysis shows that among the total respondents 26
respondents disagreed and 14 respondents agreed with this question. Also I found
that 5 people were neutral and 2 people strongly disagreed. Hence I concluded that
majority of them disagreed that the bank when promises to do something by certain
time, it does so.

41

Ques. 6 When you have a problem, the bank shows a sincere interest
in solving it.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

UNCERTAIN

14

28

34

AGREE

26

52

86

STRONGLY AGREE

14

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

42

INTERPRETATION
When you have a problem, HDFC bank shows sincere interest in solving it. After
analysing this statement I found that most of the respondents agreed i.e. 52%
respondents agreed. Also I found that 28% were neutral with this statement and 6%
were committed with disagree. There was no one who strongly disagreed. Hence
HDFC bank can be said to be reliable.

Ques.7 The bank performs the service right the first time.

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

DISAGREE

16

20

UNCERTAIN

17

34

54

AGREE

17

34

88

STRONGLY AGREE

12

100

TOTAL

50

100

43

Sales

STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE
UNCERTAIN

INTERPRETATION
Total sample size was 50. Here analysis shows that among the total respondents 17
people agreed with this statement. They think that HDFC bank performs the
services right the first time. 6 people strongly agreed with this statement. Also 17
people were neutral and the rest of the respondents disagreed and strongly
disagreed.

44

Ques.8 The bank insists on error free records.

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

10

10

UNCERTAIN

10

20

30

AGREE

23

46

76

STRONGLY AGREE

12

24

100

50

100

TOTAL

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

45

INTERPRETATION
Bank insists on error free records. HDFC bank has proved from my analysis that it
surely insist on error free records as 46% respondents agreed with this statement
and 24% strongly agreed. Only 10% respondents disagreed and no one strongly
disagreed.

RESPONSIVENESS DIMENSION OF SERVICE

QUALITY (Question 9 to 12):
Willingness to help customers and provide prompt services
Ques. 9 Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will
be performed.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

12

12

DISAGREE

16

28

UNCERTAIN

13

26

54

AGREE

18

36

90

STRONGLY AGREE

10

100

TOTAL

50

100

46

Sales

STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
STRONGLY AGREE
AGREE

INTERPRETATION
Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will be performed.
Majority of the respondents agreed with this statement. 26% respondents were
uncertain. At the same time 16% disagreed and 12% Strongly disagreed with this
statement.

47

Ques. 10 Employees in the bank give you prompt service.

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

10

10

UNCERTAIN

16

32

42

AGREE

27

54

96

STRONGLY AGREE

100

TOTAL

50

100

SCALE

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

48

INTERPRETATION
Most of the respondents agreed with this statement. According to my analysis,
employees in HDFC Bank give prompt service. Among the total respondents
agreed respondents were 27 and strongly agreed were 2. 16 people were neutral
and 5 disagreed. There was no respondent who strongly disagreed with this
statement.

Ques.11 Employees in the bank are always willing to help you

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

UNCERTAIN

12

24

24

AGREE

29

58

82

STRONGLY AGREE

18

100

TOTAL

50

100

49

Sales

UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

INTERPRETATION
Employees in HDFC bank are willing to help you. With this statement no one
disagreed or strongly disagreed. Strongly agreed were 9 people i.e. 18%
respondents strongly agreed, 29 people agreed i.e. 58% respondents agreed and
24% respondents were neutral.

50

Ques.12 Employees in the bank are never too busy to respond to

your request.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

UNCERTAIN

11

22

24

AGREE

27

54

78

STRONGLY AGREE

11

22

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

51

INTERPRETATION
Employees in HDFC Bank ltd are never too busy to respond to your request. After
analyzing this statement I found that most of the respondents agreed with this
statement. Among the total respondents 22% strongly agreed and 54% agreed. 11
respondents were neutral and 1 respondent disagreed. No one strongly disagreed.

ASSURANCE DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY

(Question13 to 16):
Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust
and confidence
Ques.13 The employees of the bank are trustworthy.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

UNCERTAIN

13

26

34

AGREE

28

56

90

STRONGLY AGREE

10

100

TOTAL

50

100

52

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

INTERPRETATION
The employees of the bank are trustworthy. According to my findings, 54%
respondents agreed that employees at HDFC bank are trustworthy. 13%
respondents were neutral and 4% respondents disagreed with this statement.

53

Ques.14 The behavior of employees in the bank instills confidence in

you.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

28

56

56

UNCERTAIN

64

AGREE

13

26

90

STRONGLY AGREE

10

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

54

INTERPRETATION

The behavior of employees in HDFC bank instills confidence in you. Here analysis
shows that most of the people disagreed. Among the total respondents 28
respondents disagreed, 13 agreed and 5 strongly agreed. There was no respondent
who strongly disagreed. This means 56% respondent disagreed with this statement.

Ques.15 You feel safe in your transactions with the bank.

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

10

10

UNCERTAIN

16

32

42

AGREE

23

46

88

STRONGLY AGREE

12

100

TOTAL

50

100

55

Sales

1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr

INTERPRETATION

With this statement most of the respondents agreed. Among the total respondents
23 agreed with this statement and 6 strongly agreed. 32% respondents were neutral
and 10% respondents disagreed. But there no one who strongly disagreed.

56

Ques.16 Employees in the bank have the knowledge to answer your

questions.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

UNCERTAIN

18

22

AGREE

26

52

74

STRONGLY AGREE

13

26

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

57

INTERPRETATION
From my analysis I found that 54% respondents agreed that employees of HDFC
bank have complete knowledge to answer their questions. 26% respondents
strongly agreed to this statement and only 4% disagreed. 18% neither agreed nor
disagreed.

EMPATHY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Question17 to

20):
Caring and individualized attention that firm provides to its customers.
Ques.17 The bank gives you individual attention.

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

26

52

52

UNCERTAIN

12

24

76

AGREE

10

20

96

STRONGLY AGREE

100

TOTAL

50

100

58

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

INTERPRETATION
HDFC bank is not able to give individual attention to its customers as out of the
total respondents 54% disagreed with this statement. 12% of the respondents were
neutral and only 12% agreed and 2% strongly agreed. From this finding it can be
concluded that it is unable to give individual attention to its customers.
59

Ques.18 The bank has operating hours convenient to all its

customers.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

UNCERTAIN

14

28

32

AGREE

27

54

86

STRONGLY AGREE

14

100

TOTAL

50

100

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

60

INTERPRETATION

HDFC bank has operating hours convenient to all its customers. Out of 50
respondents, 27 respondents agreed with this statement and only 2 respondents
disagreed. Also 7 respondents strongly agreed that the bank has operating hours
convenient to its customers.

Ques.19 The bank has your interests best at heart.

SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

DISAGREE

10

16

UNCERTAIN

10

20

36

AGREE

25

50

86

STRONGLY AGREE

14

100

TOTAL

50

100

61

INTERPRETATION
HDFC bank has your best interests at heart. Here analysis shows that 25
respondents agreed and 7 respondents strongly agreed with this statement. 20%
were neutral and the rest disagreed and strongly disagreed.

Ques.20 The employees of the bank understand your specific

needs.
SCALE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE

DISAGREE

10

10

UNCERTAIN

21

42

52

AGREE

20

40

92

STRONGLY AGREE

100

TOTAL

50

100

62

Sales

DISAGREE
UNCERTAIN
AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE

INTERPREATION
Employees of HDFC bank understand specific needs. With this statement most of
the respondents were neutral. Among the total respondents 20 respondents agreed
and 4 respondents strongly agreed. 5 respondents disagreed with this statement.

63

MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS

Measuring the quality of a service can be a very difficult exercise. Unlike product
where there are specific specifications such as length, depth, width, weight, colour
etc. a service can have numerous intangible or qualitative specifications.
Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) provide a list of determinants of service
quality: access, communication, competence, courtesy, credibility, reliability,
responsiveness, security, understanding, and tangibles. A total of five consolidated
dimensions of service quality are:
Tangibles (ques.1 to 4) - Physical facilities, equipments and appearance of
personnel
Reliability (ques.5 to 8) - Ability to perform the promised service dependably and
accurately
Responsiveness (ques.9 to 12) Willingness to help customers and provide prompt
services
Assurance (ques.13 to 16) (including competence, courtesy, credibility and
security) Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust
and confidence
Empathy (ques.17 to 20) (including access, communication and understanding
the customer) Caring and individualized attention that firm provides to its
customer.
In order to calculate which dimension of service quality is performing well, a
sample of the questions are used in the questionnaire. Using the questionnaire,
obtain the score for each of the 20 statements. After analysis of the data, Overall
score to each statement is given on a scale of 1 to 5 i.e. 1 is given to strongly
disagreed i.e. the lowest score, then 2= disagreed, 3= uncertain, 4= agreed and 5=
strongly agreed.
Sum the score for each dimension of service quality to obtain a final score which
tells which
dimension is performing well and which dimension needs improvement.

64

The scores for each dimension are summed up and a final

score is obtained:
SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION

Points

11

1. TANGIBILITY (1 TO 4)

13.5

2. RELIABILITY (5 TO 8)

16

3. RESPONSIVENESS (9 TO 12)

14

4. ASSURANCE (13 TO 16)

13

5. EMPATHY (17 TO 20)

65

FINDINGS OF THE REPORT

The Reliability dimension of service quality is better as compared to empathy

and tangibility. Still the score is low. For most services, customers perceptions of
whether the service has been performed correctly, and not provider-established
criteria, are the major determinants of reliability. Customers of the bank hesitate to
rely on the bank. Whenever they have a problem, the bank shows sincere interest in
solving it but the services are not performed by a certain time as promised. The
employees should take this problem seriously and take steps to remove this.
As score for Assurance is at second place after responsiveness, so the customers
of HDFC bank are very confident and feel safe while transacting with the bank.
Moreover the employees of the bank have proved to be trustworthy. Employees are
also educated enough to answer all the questions.
The score of Tangibility dimension of service quality of HDFC bank is the
lowest. The service quality factor tangible is defined by whether the physical
facilities and materials associated with the service are visually appealing at the
bank. These are all factors that customers notice before or upon entering the bank.
Customer expectations regarding visual appealing of HDFC is very high. From my
study I found that Physical facilities and modern looking equipment are not
sufficient in HDFC bank. Respondents were uncertain about the neat appearance of
the reception desk employees. So they should work on that and try to fulfill the
gap.
According to my findings, the score of Empathy is not satisfactory but not
unsatisfactory also. HDFC bank is unable to give individual attention to its
customers and is unable to understand specific needs of its customers. But still
bank has taken steps to satisfy its customers by keeping operating hours convenient
to its customers and keeping their interest best at heart.
In HDFC bank, the score of Responsiveness is highest so they are focusing on
prompt service, employees are willing to help the customers and say the exact time
when the services will be performed. Employees at bank give their customers first
preference and are always ready to help them. Overall HDFC banks
responsiveness dimension of service quality is the highest.

66

According to the customer perception, HDFC bank is highly responsive.

Customers are assured while transacting with the bank. The reliability dimension is
lower than the first to dimension. They feel that the bank is unable to give them
individual attention and its equipments are not modern and sufficient for the bank.
There is not much gap between all the dimensions, this shows that HDFC BANK
is a better service provider in all the dimensions i.e. reliability, assurance,
tangibility, responsiveness and empathy. As a result of which, the customers are
satisfied with the service offered by HDFC bank.

67

CONCLUSION
Based on the study conducted it can be concluded that responsiveness, assurance
and reliability are the critical dimensions of service quality of HDFC bank and they
are directly related to overall service quality. The factors that may delight
customers tend to be concerned more with the intangible nature of the service,
commitment, attentiveness, friendliness, care, and courtesy.
The employees give prompt services, always are ready to answer the
questions and are trustworthy. The main sources of dissatisfaction appear to be
cleanliness, up to date technology modern equipments, and neatly dressed up
employees. The Tangibility dimension of service quality of HDFC bank is highly
disappointing and serious steps are needed to be taken to enhance this dimension.
Customers of the bank are dissatisfied with the empathy dimension. To satisfy
these customers, the management can take some attempts, noted earlier as
recommendations.
The study brings about the areas which require urgent attention of
the employees, the management, and the policy makers of the industry. These are
areas in which customers are hugely dissatisfied with the services of the banks
against their expectation. This high degree of dissatisfaction resulting from the
services received clearly questions the design of services or subsequent response of
the bank employees. These limitations are too serious to be avoided as these
question the front-line people dealing with the customers and the approach of the
management in taking customers seriously.
The management should understand the benefits of service quality. It include
increased customer satisfaction, improved customer retention, positive word of
mouth, reduced staff turnover, decreased operating costs, enlarged market share,
increased profitability, and improved financial
performance. In the days of intense competition, superior service is the only
differentiator left before the banks to attract, retain and partner with the customers.
Superior service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition,
gain a sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency. Thus, improving
service quality leads to the customer satisfaction and, ultimately, to customer
loyalty.

68

RECOMMENDATIONS

Reliability

is an obvious place to start. Customers of the bank want to know

their resources are safe and within trustworthy institutions. A way to ensure this
peace of mind would be to take steps to ensure bank employees are well trained, so
each bank associate is able to offer complete and comprehensive information at all
times. Consistent policies combined with a knowledgeable staff will foster a high
degree of institutional cohesion and reliability.
Responsiveness, again when associated with a well-trained staff and timely
answers to service-related questions, would make significant inroads into causing
HDFC bank be regarded as responsive. Staff should be encouraged to present
relevant options to banking customers in a manner that does not resemble
salesmanship so much as a desire to serve.
Intangibles please customers just as much as tangibles in the banking industry.
People tend to visit the same branch of a bank over and over again. Usually, this is
a location close to their home or their workplace. It is natural that customers
become comfortable and habituated to these branch banks, for the same reason
they develop familiarity with a neighborhood supermarket or convenience store. It
makes sense that bank employees would be encouraged to learn to recognize these
regular customers, learn their names, and begin to identify their basic service
requirements.
Learning to understand customers needs will allow bank associates to offer
enhanced services, perhaps lowering customers banking costs and increasing their
investment potential. This could also open up the possibility of increased profits
for banks, for when perceived as more service and customer oriented, they will, in
effect, become a useful
and pleasant way to shop.
Keeping the bank with up-to-date technologically are important factors. Modern
equipments, new improved technology should be replaced with the old ones. If the
staff inside is pleasant and well-informed, in an aesthetically pleasing environment,
then customer satisfaction will be high.

69

The five-dimensional structure could possibly serve as a meaningful framework

for tracking a banks service quality performance over time and comparing it
against the performance of competitors. Items on some dimensions should be
expanded if that is necessary for reliability.
Thus, the banking industries must continuously measure and improve these
dimensions in order to gain customers loyalty.

70

BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
Kotler Philip, marketing management, (Pearson education, 12th edition)
Malhotra K. Naresh, marketing research (An applied orientation), Research design,
(Prentice hall of India pvt. 5th edition)
Zeithmal V. A., Grembler D.D., Bitner M.j., and Pandit A.: Service Marketing
Integrated customer Focus across the Firm (4th Edition)
M.K. Rampal : Service Marketing
Websites
www.hdfcbank.com
www.hdfcindia.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.marketresearch.com

71

ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Respected Sir/Madam
I am student of SBS, Sharda University conducting a survey on
SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK. The following statements
relate to your feelings about the HDFC bank. Please show the extent to
which you believe HDFC bank has the feature described in the
statement. I request you to the option which in your opinion are
believed to be true.
Name:
Age:
Educational Qualifications

QUESTIONS

Strongly
Disagree

1.HDFC bank has modern looking

equipment.
2. The bank's physical features are visually
appealing
3. The bank's reception desk employees are
neat appearing.
4. Materials associated with the service (such
as pamphlets or statements) are visually
appealing at the bank.
5. When the bank promises to do something
by a certain time, it does so.
6. When you have a problem, the bank
72

Disagree

Neither
agreeNor
disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree

shows a sincere interest in solving it.

7. The bank performs the service right the
first time.
8. The bank insists on error free records.
9. Employees in the bank tell you exactly
when the services will be performed.
10. Employees in the bank give you prompt
service.
11. Employees in the bank are always
willing to help you.
12. Employees in the bank are never too
busy to respond to your request.
13. The employees of the bank are
trustworthy.
14. The behavior of employees in the bank
instills confidence in you.
15. You feel safe in your transactions with
the bank.
16. Employees in the bank have the
knowledge to answer your questions.
17. The bank gives you individual attention.
18. The bank has operating hours convenient
to all its customers
19. The bank has your best interests at heart.
20. The employees of the bank understand
your specific needs.

73

74